Griffins Game #3 * Road Game #2 * AHL Game #46

Season Series: 0-0-0-0 Home Series: 0-0-0-0 Road Series: 0-0-0-0
All-Time Series: 43-32-7-8 All-Time Home Series: 29-11-3-2 All-Time Road Series: 14-21-4-6

Griffins at IceHogs
First of 10 meetings overall, first of five at the BMO Harris Bank Center…The Griffins finished 3-3-4-0 against Rockford last season and seven of the 10 meetings were decided by one goal…Matt Puempel led the Griffins in the 2018-19 season series with six points (3-3—6) in eight games…Grand Rapids has owned the IceHogs at Van Andel Arena, showing a 29-11-3-2 record but Rockford has returned the favor in the Land of Lincoln as the Griffins are 14-21-4-6 at the BMO Harris Bank Center…Dating to April 1, 2017, Grand Rapids has points in six of its last 11 games at Rockford (1-5-2-3)...The Griffins were the home opener opponent for Chicago last Saturday and will be again tonight against Rockford.

Rockford Connections
Former Griffin Derek King is in his first full season as head coach of the IceHogs…King played in Grand Rapids from 1999-01 and 2002-04 and is the franchise’s all-time leading playoff scorer (16-25—41) and ranks fifth in regular season points (73-130—203)…King and Ben Simon were both assistants with the Toronto Marlies in 2014-15...Simon also served as an assistant coach with the IceHogs during the 2012-13 season.

24th Season Underway

The Griffins have split the first two games of their 24th season of play. Grand Rapids opened with an 8-5 victory at the defending Western Conference champion Chicago Wolves last Saturday and dropped its home opener last night by a 4-1 margin against the Milwaukee Admirals. The Griffins will complete their first of 25 back-to-back slates this season tonight when they head to Rockford. Grand Rapids is back on the road next Friday and Saturday at Texas. Four of the Griffins’ first five games will come on foreign ice before they wrap up October with four consecutive home contests.

Last Time Out (Friday): Admirals 4 at Griffins 1 - Recap | Highlights
Grand Rapids sold out its 24th consecutive home opener and is 13-10-0-1 in those games...The Griffins banked another power play goal and are 4-for-10 to open the season...Chris Terry scored on the man-advantage at 7:22 of the second period….Jarid Lukosevicius made his regular season AHL debut...Grand Rapids had its three-game winning streak on home openers snapped.

Back Up, Terr
The Griffins’ leading scorer a season ago with 61 points (29-32—61) in 69 games, Chris Terry has picked up where he left off by tallying four points (2-2—4) in the first two games. He posted three points in the season opener and has goals in both contests to start the year.

All That Ras
Second-year pro Michael Rasmussen is averaging a point per game in his Griffins career, showing five (3-2—5) in five. Appearing in three games with Grand Rapids last season while on a conditioning stint, he tallied two goals in three games. The ninth overall selection in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft by Detroit, Rasmussen netted a goal and an assist in the season opener and added another helper last night.

Model Year
Matthew Ford began his 12th-year pro with a career-high-tying four points (2-2—4) last Saturday. The fourth-year Griffin had reached the four-point total three times previously and most recently as a member of the Oklahoma City Barons on April 11, 2015 at Chicago. Ford also became the fourth Griffin since 2005-06 to notch four or more points in a season opener, joining Turner Elson (1-3—4 vs. Manitoba on Oct. 6, 2017), Kent McDonell (0-4—4 vs. Milwaukee on Oct. 8, 2005) and Jiri Hudler (2-2—4 vs. Milwaukee on Oct. 8, 2005). Grand Rapids’ active leader in goals scored with 49, Ford needs two more to reach 200 in the AHL. A 2017 Calder Cup champion with Grand Rapids, Ford is in his third season as captain of the club.

First Things First
Grand Rapids’ roster currently features four recent Detroit first-round draft picks (Moritz Seider 2019, Filip Zadina 2018, Joe Veleno 2018, Michael Rasmussen 2017). Four of the Red Wings’ last six first rounders are on the west side of the state, with the exceptions being Dennis Cholowski (2016), who made Detroit’s roster following training camp, and Evgeny Svechnikov (2016), who was recalled on Monday. From 2002-15, the Griffins had only seven Detroit first rounders total suit up for them: Jakub Kindl (2005-11; 14-15), Niklas Kronwall (2003-06), Dylan Larkin (2015 playoffs only), Anthony Mantha (2014-15), Tom McCollum (2009-15), Riley Sheahan (2011-14) and Brendan Smith (2010-13). The Griffins’ opening night lineup had five Detroit first rounders in it, far surpassing the previous record of two. The Griffins had never seen more than three Red Wings first rounders suit up for the club at any point in the same season until this year. Adding in Matt Puempel (24th overall by Ottawa in 2011) and Dylan McIlrath (10th overall by the New York Rangers in 2010), Grand Rapids’ roster boasts six former first-round draft selections.

This Date in Griffins History
2001: Grand Rapids claims its first AHL win with a 4-1 triumph at Hamilton.
2002: The Griffins debut their third jersey and uniform, modeled after the Red Wings, and christen their second AHL campaign with a 6-4 home loss to Cleveland. The crowd of 10,834 marks the Griffins’ seventh consecutive sellout of a home opener, and Dave Van Drunen’s goal 33 seconds into the contest is the fastest season-opening goal in the franchise’s seven seasons.
2005: Led by Derek Meech’s four-point night (1-3—4), the Griffins extend their winning streak in road openers to seven with a 5-2 victory at Cleveland. Meech’s four points match the team’s blueliner record set by Karel Rachunek (0-4—4) on Feb. 11, 2000, and he becomes just the seventh defenseman in team history to log three or more assists in a single game.
2018: On the strength of Filip Zadina’s first two professional goals, the Griffins secure Ben Simon’s first victory as an AHL head coach with a 6-3 triumph over Hershey before Grand Rapids’ 23rd consecutive home-opening sellout at Van Andel Arena.

Simon Says
Ben Simon, 41, is in his second season as Grand Rapids’ head coach. In his first year, he guided the Griffins to a 38-27-7-4 record (87 points, 0.572) and a fourth-place finish in the Central Division while becoming the eighth head coach in franchise history to lead the Griffins to the postseason during his first full season behind the bench. Simon served as an assistant coach in Grand Rapids from 2015-18 under Todd Nelson and helped the franchise win its second Calder Cup in 2017. He is the fourth former Griffins assistant to then become the head coach. Appearing in 21 games and scoring nine points (4-5—9) with the Griffins in 2006-07 as part of an 11-year professional playing career, Simon is the third former Griffins player to serve as Grand Rapids’ head coach, joining Nelson and Danton Cole (2002-05).

Griffins in General
Grand Rapids is in the franchise’s 24th overall season of play, 19th as a member of the American Hockey League and 18th as the primary affiliate of the 11-time Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings…Grand Rapids is 966-657-27-58-112 (0.585) in the regular season since 1996-97 to go along with 17 playoff appearances, seven division titles and two Calder Cups (2017, 2013)…The Griffins have earned 40 or more wins and accumulated 90 or more points in six of the last seven seasons…Grand Rapids has qualified for the Calder Cup Playoffs in a franchise-record seven consecutive seasons and advanced to at least the second round on five occasions…The Griffins’ 8-5 season-opening win at Chicago on Oct. 5 marked the club’s 750th win in the AHL…Grand Rapids’ 306 regular season wins since the 2012-13 campaign rank second behind only Toronto’s 319 and the Griffins’ 663 points in that span are third, trailing Toronto (691) and Providence (664)…Since the affiliation began in 2002-03, 89 Griffins have gone on to play for the Red Wings…In fact, 27 Griffins alumni wore the Winged Wheel during the 2018-19 season.

Photo at top by Sam Iannamico/Griffins